Family of 'Kate Middleton nurse' still waiting for answers

Ryan Hooper

THE family of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who was found hanged after taking a hoax phone call about the Duchess of Cambridge, have yet to receive answers from hospital bosses to questions over the death.

THE family of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who was found hanged after taking a hoax phone call about the Duchess of Cambridge, have yet to receive answers from hospital bosses to questions over the death.

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Family of 'Kate Middleton nurse' still waiting for answers

Independent.ie

THE family of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who was found hanged after taking a hoax phone call about the Duchess of Cambridge, have yet to receive answers from hospital bosses to questions over the death.

Ms Saldanha's widower and her two children are also waiting to hear back from radio show bosses in Australia after the nurse was duped by a radio feature in which a DJ impersonated the Queen in an attempt to reach the Duchess, who was being treated for morning sickness at the time.

The 46-year-old, from Bristol, was found dead in her nurses' quarters three days after she transferred the call from 2Day FM's Mel Greig and Michael Christian to a colleague at London's King Edward VII's Hospital who then described Kate's condition in detail.

Ms Saldanha left two notes in her room and had marks on her wrist when her body was discovered on December 7 last year, Westminster Coroner's Court in London heard.

It has now been confirmed that the 40 questions prepared by her grieving family looking for answers into Ms Saldanha's death will only be answered following an internal inquiry, led by hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, who has supported Ms Saldanha's family since the death, said: "I welcome the fact that the hospital is conducting an internal inquiry, although I am disappointed that it will take such a long time for the results to be made available to the family.

"I feel that it would have been in the family's best interest that there should have been an independent element of the inquiry.

"Despite the fact that the family have sent a list of 40 questions to the hospital they still seem unwilling to answer them."

The Australian radio station's parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, also received a list of questions from Ms Saldanha's family.

Mr Vaz added: "As far as the radio station is concerned, I am disappointed that they have still not written directly to the family and apologised. However, I am glad that they are co-operating fully with the Australian regulatory body's inquiry."

In a letter to Mr Vaz, hospital chief executive John Lofthouse said he wanted to reiterate that "no disciplinary action was being contemplated" against Ms Saldanha.

"We regarded her as the victim of a cruel hoax," he added.

Greig and Christian spoke of their grief on Australian television soon after the nurse's death.

They said their prank had prompted "a tragic turn of events no-one could have predicted or expected".